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In a future Manhattan devastated by environmental catastrophes and epidemics, sixteen-year-old Lucy survives alone until vicious hounds target her and force her to join Aidan and his band, but soon they learn that she is the target of Sweepers, who kidnap and infect people with plague.

Ashes, Ashes had the potential of being a fantastic survival story, but the characters lacked depth. I felt nothing for Lucy and Aidan who struggled to survive and escape the Sweepers. I found myself skipping pages due to long periods of inaction, and waiting for something exciting to happen. If you are a reader of Teen survival stories, I would not recommend this one.

I thought this book was too long and didn't have enough action. When the action happened, it was either all clumped together or would come out of no where. It was too descriptive and I thought all the characters were flat.

I think this book had potential, but the characters lacked emotion - I mean, they are surviving the end of the world or whatever, and their friends and family are dying/dead, and they don't seem all that concerned about it. Not to mention, there's all this talk about how rough it is to eat and survive and there's the plague and stuff, but it just didn't work with the storyline. A lot of it just didn't make sense. I assume there'll be a sequel from all the loose ends, but I doubt I'll read it.

Ashes, Ashes" quite clearly draws from a 2012, 'end of the world', apocalyptic theme. The diction has a pattern that can be compared to the state of the occurring natural catastrophes that is constant throughout the book. That is to say, the first one-fifth of the whole book was clearly a time of painful waiting, and then one is hit with a medium-strengthed wave of plot advancement.

From then, "Ashes, Ashes" proceeds much more effectively with a stronger storyline change. However, if one does not push through the dense, seemingly hopeless opening, then the fruit will never be tasted.

The first 4 chapters was understood to be a painting of the setting and an introduction to Lucy, the protagonist, however that is not excuse for the repetition of short statements of Lucy's every single movement over such a long length of pages. I appreciate the similarity of the waiting period to that of the dull and tense period before disaster, but I was seriously going to put the book down.

In addition, Lucy is an unrefined main character, and she, along with all the other characters, undergo minimal development through the book. Treggiari also used 3rd person in this work; that, paired with realistic, yet plainly average characters, it was hard to feel any personal connection to the characters. There were also notable places where the pronouns were confusing and unclear.

On a brighter note, the faster-paced sections, along with the change-up in setting moved the story to a slightly more enjoyable level. The spurts of action had considerable power and were well-timed toward the end. Points for descriptively gory nuances and for the major shudders-factor. The conclusion was mediocre and unevenly paced, but other than that, decently well-rounded.

For anyone that loves post-apocalyptic settings with a lot of drama and excitement, I'd recommend this book. The characters are really interesting, and you learn a lot of things that are jam packed in a giant world you can't help but get lost in. The only issue I had with this book is the heavy concentration on relationships - I know it's a young-adult book, but I want to see more survival than cuddling and hand-holding. Other than that, it's a good book!